Fly Casting Styles

“When the subject of grip comes up and I express that I prefer the Index on top, the response is usually something like, “I can see using that for little short casts” followed by a schoolmarm-like finger pointing motion. But you might be surprised to find that, when done properly, the index on top grip offers the same power with less effort expended by the caster, than the Thumb on top or the V-grip.”

for the longest of times i was one of those “I can see using that for little short casts”-only types as well until i started to experiment with different grip styles not only for myself, but also as alternative ways to help my casting students.
having understood maybe ten years ago that the ‘thumb on top’ grip wasn’t for me and that it left a very unnatural feeling and consequent poor back casts, overall inconsistency, wimpy distance and all the combined nasties where specially highlighted when doing accuracy, speys and slack/curved/piled and whatever-else presentation casts.
the ‘V’ grip went a long way to help me control the rod better but easy and more importantly, precisely applied leverage was reduced because it means reducing hand-length contact area on the rod grip, the shorter of the three main styles. (see image below) for some reason it also fatigued my wrists more, specially when doing non-linear casts.
as a reminder, the three main styles are Thumb on Top, Index on Top and V grip. i’ll exclude Jason Borger’s excellent Three-Point grip from our ‘main’ list being a combination of thumb and index grips.

when thinking about how to perform a specific cast i like to think of it as ‘drawing’ figures with the rod tip as if there was a marker on the tip of the rod and i was drawing on either a rigid or flexible board. with the index i also ‘tell’ the line where to go by pointing at the trajectory it should take and where it should go. the correlation pointing index/rod tip is at its highest and that’s made me a better, more consistant caster.
pointing or drawing with our index finger is intuitive whereas the only time i can think of where we point with the thumb is when hitch-hiking.
(this might also be one of the reasons people tend to not pick up hitch-hikers any more: they’re pointing unnaturally and this sets off an immediate sense of mistrust… )

anyhow, grip styles are just that, styles. there’s absolutely nothing wrong with any style as long as it suites the user and suits them well. the Index on Top happens to suite me best and as such i can’t help but think that it might help others. i don’t initially teach this style but its helped more students get over common problems than i can think of, so i guess that speaks for itself.

Leverage“As you know, the rod is a lever. Think of the hand as the lever that works the lever. Comparing the two grips, you will notice that the index finger extends considerably further up the cork than the thumb.”

for more on how this grip style can be beneficial for you and maybe enhance your performance, click the image above for Joe’s most-excellent complete article. i hope you’ll give it a good try. enjoy !